The Week 8 Trade Exchange

If you split hairs, it’s probably more important to buy low than to sell high. Rich Dad Poor Dad says you make your money when you buy. I say of “buy low” and “sell high,” always try to do both. It’s a bit more of a sellers market than usual this week, folks. Have at it.
Buy Low:

Calvin Johnson, WR Detroit Lions
He hasn’t met expectations this year. A five-point game and a three-point game in two of his last three contests. With a road game in Seattle looming you can get a discount on his preseason value. The storm will come. Try offering an RB2/3 + WR2/3. Maybe you could ship Darren McFadden straight up.
Trent Richardson, RB Cleveland Browns
Five points and two points in his last two games. He looked really hurt in Week 7. Now there are rumors that Week 8 could be in jeopardy. Two weeks after that he has a Week 10 bye. Add that up and you might have something there.

Reggie Bush, RB Miami Dolphins
Three six-point games in his last four contests. Coming off bye he seems a bit forgotten. I still have some historical concerns, but Bush has upside. His rookie quarterback is looking competent and Bush is the uncontested starting running back on a fairly respectable offense. I would offer Shonn Greene plus a receiver or Marques Colston straight up.

Torrey Smith, WR Baltimore Ravens
Three points. Eight points. Four points. Those are Smith’s last three games, and now a bye week. Sounds like a sales pitch to me. He’s dynamic. That offense will always lend itself to some inconsistency, but Smith is a solid option every week with a huge ceiling.
Hakeem Nicks, WR New York Giants
Are his owners frustrated yet? Three goose eggs. A four-point game, a six-point game, and nagging injury concerns upon his return. I still love him moving forward.

Sell High:

Vincent Jackson, WR Tampa Bay Buccaneers
VJAX is straight up beast’n. He’s been getting the targets all season, and the pass game in Tampa is finally clicking big time. It’s hard to recommend dumping him because I don’t necessarily foresee a lot of change. Maybe the opposing defenses make impactful adjustments to their coverages. I’m sure they will try. Still, a cursory review of his value is requisite here. Jackson probably just had his biggest game of the season and his stock is at an all time high after posting four games of over 17 points in his last five contests. I think he has Calvin Johnson value right now which could be a bit inflated and worth a sell to pick up some real equity elsewhere. It’s crazy, but the big question might be would you rather have Vincent Jackson or Calvin Johnson?

Shonn Greene, RB NNew York Jets
Typically, we hate Shonn Greene at RosterWatch. Somehow though, we noticed the zest he ran with against Houston and predicted his splendor that last two weeks. It’s hazardous to my health to like Greene for too long, though. After posting 50 points in this last two games, the time to dump him is here. The next three weeks he faces the 29th, 28th, and 25th ranked matchups for fantasy running backs in Miami, Seattle, and St. Louis. Trade him for someone in the Torrey Smith range.

Marques Colston, WR NO
While reporting from Saints training camp this summer we noticed that Colston was a highly targeted second option to Jimmy Graham. During Graham’s recent ankle trouble, Colston stepped up. The last three games he’s averaging a ridiculous 22 ppg. The first half of the season was classic, underperforming five-point Marques Colston. Graham is on his way back, if I can get #1 WR value for Colston I am shipping him out the door. If not, I’m happy to keep him as a solid WR2 play the rest of the way.

Chris Johnson, RB TEN
At this point, Johnson has emerged as a high end #2 or low end #1 running back. He’s averaged 15 ppg over his last four. A certain relief for his owners. Johnson is still an unreliable option. If I can get #1 running back value I’m kicking him off the team. I’d love to pick up Hakeem Nicks + in return.
Josh Freeman, QB TB
He’s loving his new toys. The ultimate backup is thriving under his new coaches. History still shows us that Freeman’s early season campaign, a consistent string of low double-digit games is more his speed. Reality is probably somewhere in between these days, after Freeman has hit a new gear with 25 and 31 point games back to back. Those numbers represent an all-time-high value for Freeman. Smart owners will see what they can get. I would love picking up a low #2 RB/WR here.

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Thanks DC! I think Brown, Aiken and Butler (red shirted last year) are all worth shots in Baltimore at this point going into camp, maybe even Campanero if he can stay healthy. The Ravens need to be creative with just over 20 million in dead money, and that is before considering whatever Pitta's dead money might be. For a team that likes to spend to the cap each year that is a tremendous amount of dead money.

It's true, Pitta's a big if. I think they'll add more depth before all is said and done. Yes, I did this yesterday morning. If Forsett is the lead back in Baltimore, he's not getting paid like it. I think this season will be closer to a committee for the Ravens, though Forsett should do well in PPR leagues under Trestman.